Delivering Sugar Cane To The Mill At Marburg – State Library Qld

Marburg History

Brisbane Courier (Qld.), Saturday 31 August 1907, page 12

MARBURG AND KIRCHHEIM
PROSPEROUS TEUTONIC SETTLEMENTS. SUGARCANE, BUTTER, AND PIGS.
AMONG THE SUGARCANE AT MARBURG.

“Quaint” is the term most frequently used in describing the Marburg, of Prussia, and it is just as applicable to its godson, the little Queensland village fourteen miles out from Ipswich. As a fact, the latter was named from the former, and in a rather peculiar way. In the old squatting day, the valley where Marburg now stands was known as First Plain, and over the hill, where is now Minden, was called Second Plain. Then the scrub lands, which were regarded us useless, were thrown open and German settlers began to carve out homes for themselves. It was always Germans who took up this class of country, and soon a sturdy little settlement was established. Mr. J. L. Frederick was one of the early comers, and the name of Frederick was selected for the locality. At the time the German settlers were carting their produce to Walloon Railway Station, and in talking to the station-master, they found a difficulty in describing their addresses, beyond “ober dar.” Some incident had occurred at Marburg in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau at the time, and the railway man suggested that the new settlement should be given the same name, and began to call it so. It pleased the Teutonic mind, and stuck. Then other settlements were given German titles – Minden, after its Prussian namesake; and Kirchheim, meaning really the home of the churches, or as would have been termed in North Britain, Kirk’s Hame.

That was some forty years ago, and now Marburg is one of the most prosperous little districts in Queensland. The early settlers, as their sons and daughters reached manhood and womanhood made room for them, so that they would be kept close to the old roof tree, by either purchasing farms near by or sub-dividing their own holdings. The result is that settlement is now very close, and nearly four-fifths of the settlers are Germans or of German descent. Close settlement here has gone so far that the tendency, encouraged by growing prosperity, is towards a reaction in this matter, and farms are being bought and sold to in-crease the areas of adjoining properties. But that does not mean the accumulation, of large holdings-in fact, the meaning of them is unknown here. One man when asked if there were any large estates in the district, replied:
“There was one, but it has been cut up.”

How big was it? About 600 acres. 

Looking from some of the hills over the landscape these little well-worked farms give a beautiful aspect. Little paddocks of four or five acres stretch as far as the eye can see; some under grass, others newly ploughed, still more carrying crops of sugar cane, while verdant cereal crops for cattle feed fill up others. Then comfortable homesteads are numerous, and small orchards about them are the rule ; while scattered clumps of scrub left for shelter and odd trees for shade purposes add to the pleasing variety of the landscape. The result of all this is a general appearance of peacefulness, contentment, and prosperity- a kind of modern Happy Valley.

THE SUGAR INDUSTRY.
At present sugar-growing is attracting a great deal of attention, and a has been given to the industry through the local mill, after years of vicissitudes, having passed into a new and enterprising control. It was started long ago, and was first know as Woodlands Mill. Then Mr. T. L. Smith held it for a long time, but the industry languished for years. In March 1906, a new company was formed and took it over. This consists of Messrs. Gibson Brothers (4) and Sons (4), and Mr. A. L. Frederich. During the seventeen months they have been in possession they have expended £4000 in improving the mill, and during the coming year will probably spend an equal amount. Messrs. W. A. and D. L. Gibson, who have had a long experience on the famous Bingera Plantation, are in charge, and they have revolutionised the system and the industry so far as Marburg is concerned.

A visit to the mill now will show strings of German waggons at the mill, some un-loading into the carriers, others into stacks or on to trucks, some waiting to be weighed, and others for their turn. This waiting is the farmers’ greatest grievance, for our Teutonic settlers have no time for the Ca-Canny system, or the eight-hour day. They have cane standing in the fields ready to be converted into cash as soon as it has passed the mill weighbridge, and that conversion they want to accomplish in the quickest time and most effective way. Waiting idly perhaps for hours, is therefore an irritation, and there is plenty of hard driving to get a front place in the line. One settler was so anxious for a front place that he reached the mill at 4 o’clock one morning, and had to wait for three hours before receiving commenced.

Carting Sugar Cane To The Mill At Marburg – State Library Qld

The price paid for the cane is 8s., and the bonus amounts to 6s per ton, or a total of 14s. Last year Mr. F. Berlin, one of the largest growers, had 29 acres under cane, and his yield was 28 tons to the acre. This at 14s. per ton, gave him over £500; a very nice sum considering that it is only one of the industries carried on on his farm, and that his own family can do nearly all the work. The dry weather has this year reduced the yield on many farms, and Mr. Berlin does not expect to get half the crop he did last season.

When the new company took over the mill there were 400 acres in the locality growing can; now there are over 1000 acres, and every farmer spoken to was putting in more cane this year. The mill itself has a capacity for treating 30,000 tons of cane per season, or about 1,000 tons per week. This is double what it would do when it was taken over. but it is now running two shifts, and being easily kept going.

As for future extensions, there is very great scope, and Mr. W. A. Gibson expressed the opinion that there were 10000 acres that would grow cane in the locality – that is ten times us much as is at present under this crop. It is all being cultivated in small areas, the largest supplier having only 30 acres under cane; but there are 150 suppliers, and new applications for registration are being received daily. The sugar contents of locally-grown cane is not equal to that in the Bundaberg district, but that is owing in a measure to the wrong class of cane being cultivated. Battoe is the variety commonly grown, but Messrs. Gibson have this year introduced Rappoe, Striped Singapore, and Meta. Also, at the late exhibition of the National Association in Brisbane they purchased all the magnificent display of cane in the Wide Bay District Exhibit, numbering 103 varieties, for testing locally. They have purchased 45 acres of land, which they are utilising as an experimental sugar farm. Another variety which they have introduced is D1145, known about Bundaberg as Young’s cane-a kind that is frost resisting, and the sugar contents of which are very high.

A tramline is about to be surveyed to facilitate the handling of cane, and to bring the Tallegalla sugar lands into communication with the mill. This will be a private road, and will very much extend the operations of the company. At Minden, four or five miles away over the hills, there is said to be large areas of splendid sugar land, but the Marburg mill in its own district and about Tallegalla has quite as much cultivation area as it can look after. Therefore it does not intend to tap that district, leaving it for some other mill to enter upon the industry.

Application has been made under the Railways Guarantee Act for the construction of a branch railway from Walloon to Marburg, and if this is built there is every likelihood of cane being brought from Rosewood to the Marburg mill by train.

Cane-cutting commenced on August 19, and will extend up to the end of October, covering the three best months in the year. Of course, should the necessity arise, it could start earlier, and extend later, in fact, double the period of working, but the necessity for that has not yet arisen.

The farmers are cautious, and therefore not inclined to cultivate more than their own families can manage, and so are free from labour troubles in the canefields; but the mill has to get hands from outside, and about 50 men are employed there.

The illustrations accompanying this article will show some of the waggons waiting at the mill to unload. The German waggon is well suited for cane- carrying, and the biggest load carried in one so far was 2 tons 13cwt., by W. Bachmann.

Outside sugar itself the effect of the enterprise of the company is being felt. On the forest lands between Kirchheim and Ipswich, on many farms were to be seen stacks of firewood for use in the furnaces of the mill. Farmers are thus enabled to clear their lands of dead timber and trees and make a profit out of the transaction.

The mill is treating 1000 tons of cane a week, and turning out about 100 tons of sugar. The total output for the season, it is estimated, will amount to £6000 or £7000.

DAIRYING AND PIGS.
While the Marburg farmers are paying a good deal of attention to sugar, they are not at all inclined to put all their eggs in one basket, and dairying is as popular and flourishing now as ever it was. In value of products there is little difference between sugar and butter, while pigs make a good third. As has been indicated, very few farms exceed 100 acres in extent, and most of them are between forty and sixty acres. Therefore, close cultivation is the system everywhere adopted. The high lands above the frost are being devoted to sugar, while the lower country is being utilise for cattle and crops other than sugar. Couch is the common grass, and paspalum does very well, but crops are grown for cattle here more generally perhaps than at any other place in the State.

“There is no place in Queensland where so much hand-feeding is done,” was remarked by one leading authority on dairying. That accounted for the little patches of green of various shades chequered over the country side. They represented paddocks of imphee, maize, oats, wheat, and other feed crops. The Marburg Butter Factory has about sixty suppliers, milking from fifty head downwards, and as hand feeding is so general supplies are very evenly maintained. There are only about 1000 milking cows in the Marburg district so that collectors go over a good deal of outside country to increase the supplies.

At Kirchheim, about three miles away, is Mr. F. W. Linning’s butter factory, where about 2 tons of butter is at pre-sent being manufactured per week, and up to 7 tons in the busy season. He collects a good deal of cream from Glamorgan Vale and Pine Mountain, and altogether has nearly 150 suppliers.

With dairying goes pig-raising, and everybody keeps pigs here. About a truck load a week is despatched via Walloon to the various curing factories in Bris-bane, and the total value of these for the year should reach something in the vicinity of £5000.

Outside those three industries Marburg does not worry. Certainly most of the settlers grow a few oranges, peaches, and plums, and some of them make a little wine. Arrowroot grows well, but it is used for feeding pigs. One settler grows his own coffee, and all of them appear to be doing very nicely.

Latterly (lately) several properties have changed hands, and prices have ranged from £10 to £15 per acre for improved farms, but values based on present conditions appear to have settled now at £10 to £12 per acre. The greatest trouble is water, and that is conserved mostly by means of dams. Several wells have been sunk, but none of them through the clay, and the water in these is more or less impregnated with magnesium salts. In several instances were seen children driving cattle to water, owing to the dry well having exhausted supplies on some farms.

Altogether Marburg is a quaint, picturesque and prosperous little district and is what the commercial traveller’s term “very solid.”